Well, I guess if you worked for Jeff Ellis and Associates, you could opt not to watch.
Or forfeit your job by rescuing the person.
Or jump in the water and pretend you have someone closer that needs rescuing.
Tomás Lopes took the second option above. And six coworkers said they would do the same thing.
So Jeff Ellis and Associates considered its rules and its “liability issues” and…
Six Florida lifeguards have lost their jobs for backing a coworker’s decision to save a man struggling in the surf but outside their jurisdiction.
Tomas Lopez , 21, was fired Monday for vacating his lifeguarding zone to save a man drowning in unprotected waters 1,500 feet south of his post on Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Hey, ABC, whatfer headline is that, anyway? To say they exited makes it sound like they quit. The story says they were fired.
I’m also puzzled about something else, ABC — why did Tomás Lopez double underhook the man on the beach?
Well, ABC’s strange stuff aside, I hope Jeff Ellis and Associates reverses course. But that seems a silly hope, given that they followed up on firing the rescuer by firing his supportive coworkers a couple of days later.
Too bad.
Many cheers for Mr. Lopes and his pro-life co-workers!
They put duty to their fellowman above duty to their employer.
I naturally wonder if they are “merely” decent human beings or if they also are followers of the One who said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Well, if I ever need help, I hope those within range to help are of that mentality (as opposed to the mentality exhibited and reaffirmed by the decision-making executives of…well, I don’t need to name that company yet again).
Note to that company: Do you know for whom Jason Oglesbee and Joe Lowe worked? I wonder if they had any “liability issues” to consider…
PS to self: By whose principles would you react?